Time for a Spring Nap!

It's a wild winter so far, and warm Spring days seem far away.  What better time to create with Spring colors and images?

Here are two cards featuring an adorable House Mouse image:

This picture gives a truer representation of the colors, SU's Gable Green and Pale Plum:

The green panels were embossed with a Fiskars plate and the image was colored with various types of watercolor pencils.  A little brass oval frame from my treasure trove (perhaps by Recollections?) and some pale yellow ribbon finish it off.  Oh yes, tiny lavender brads.

Rather simple cards, but I like how peaceful they are.  This brings me to 31 cards in my attempt to use up my stash to make 100 cards in 100 days.  I'll be gone for a short business trip the rest of this week, so catching up will have to wait until the weekend.

Wishing all of you a peaceful end to this week and to the month of January!

Revisiting An Old Favorite

I just love the retired set from SU! called "Sweet Herbs" (1999), it's one of my very favorite sets.  I love to grow my own herbs each year and this set always reminds me of the short Spring and Summer months up here when we cram a lot of gardening in!

The stamp was colored directly with SU's markers and inked onto Very Vanilla CS.  The panel is mounted onto some rust colored Mulberry paper that has been torn and feathered on the edges.  The two DP's are from SU as well, layered onto Navy CS and then onto Very Vanilla for the card base.

Here's a closer view.

See the little flower in the corner?  It was made by punching two little flowers, curling up the edges and adding a little gem in the center.  Here's a closer look:

Well, if my tally is correct, this makes 29 cards for the 100 Cards in 100 Days challenge.  A brave attempt to use up some of our collections of treasures, not purchasing anything new to create the 100 cards.  So far, so good!

Thank you for stopping by and thank you for leaving your comments.  I appreciate them all and wish each of you a great day!

Penny Black Valentines

Next up for the 100 Cards in 100 Days Challenge: some Penny Black images with a cat and mice:

Aren't they the cutest?  Here's a closer view:

The pink and white panels were cut with a Cricut Cartridge, "Elegant Edges".  The paper is at least 2 years old, from a pack called "All Seasons".  Red and pink Stickles were used on the heart box, cupcakes and to decorate the corners and DP.  The ribbon is from either WalMart or Michael's, and is probably 4 or 5 years old.  Guess I don't really make many Valentine's cards, do I?  (haha)

I think our daughter will like one of these.  Knowing me, I'd better get it ready to mail soon, or time will fly and I'll be late.

This brings my tally to 26 for the challenge.  I fiddled around today but only produced one card.  I like it, but I was just s-l-o-w today.  I'm giving it to my friend tomorrow at church so I'd best take a picture now...

Catch you later!

Candy Hearts Valentines

Here are cards 21-23 for the 100 Cards in 100 Days Challenge!  (Objective is to use what you already own, no new purchases unless you need adhesive refills)

Last weekend was really fun for me.  I crammed a whole lot of ink and paper into the 3 day weekend!  Here are three cards made with a stamp that I've had for years and has never seen ink before.
















I always admire those of you who frame your layers in black, yet have never done it myself until these cards.  I think maybe I got it right? (ha ha)

The hearts were colored with my old friends the SU water based markers.  Then painted over with Crystal Effects to make the colors pop and give the image some gloss and shine.

Now, those of you who know me, know that I usually start off with blank paper and make my own DP, so if you look closely you can see that the pink panel is dry embossed with hearts.  See that red panel?  Well, some time ago I picked up a couple of SU's letter press plates.  Last weekend I gave them a whirl and the red panel is the result.  It was pretty cool (IMHO).

Here's a better look:

Plain red CS, the letter press plate inked with Frost White ink by Color Box and heat embossed with Diamond EP from A Muse Studios.  I was so tickled with the result that I dragged hubby away from his computer to see! (I tend to be like a child when making my cards - "Come and see...!")

Here's what I used for the red panel:





I also made 5 other cards for the challenge last weekend. I'll be getting those ready to post later today or tomorrow.




Thanks for stopping by and thank you also for leaving comments.  It's very generous of you to take the time!

Cards 15 - 20 (100 Cards in 100 Days)

By now most of you know of the Challenge on Split Coast: 100 Cards in 100 Days.  The agreement is to make cards from your treasure trove of goodies, you can not buy anything for these cards except adhesives if you run out.

Most of the participants are making a different card for every day - WOW!  Ummm, not me.  But I'm playing along in spirit since I need to use up some of my papers, embellishments, ribbon and ink up a lot of stamps that need some love!

Here is a set of two Valentine cards that were part of a project back in 2010.  How do I know the year?  Ahem...it was a calendar project intended to be Christmas gifts.  I managed to make about 10 months for 6 calendars, then never got back to it in time to finish them and give them out.  Pathetic, but true!  So I rescued 2 February panels and made Valentine's cards out of them.

I just love this stamp, it was an eBay find years ago.

Here's a closer look, it's chock full of cute details:

At the time I colored with SU watercolor pencils and a blending pen.  The flower hearts are painted over with Crystal Effects to give them some shine and make the colors pop.

These are cards 15 & 16.

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Here are cards 17-20:

Do you remember Stampin' Up's "In Colors" from 2009-2010?
            Rich Razzleberry     Melon Mambo
            Crushed Curry        Dusty Durango
            Bermuda Bay          Soft Suede
Well, I certainly do!  I loaded up on card stock in those colors when they changed them out.  But now that I have them all in the same place in my craft room, Holy Toledo!  What was I thinking??!!  I could make 300 cards using those colors and barely put a dent in my supply. I'd better get moving on it!

I was in a mood for some cheery and sunny colors and images last weekend, so these were the result:

This lovely stamp is another eBay treasure from years ago when eBay used to be all about the bidding on someone else's things.  It's changed a lot now.

But I digress...the stamp is marked "The Artful Stamper" from London, Canada.  That's it.  No other info.  But I just love it.  It's stamped in Bermuda Bay and clear embossed.  Yes, that is Crushed Curry CS and ribbon, layered onto a base of Bermuda Bay.  Yellow Stickles give a bit of bling to the flowers.  A MS corner punch was used on the main panel as well.

The inside is not finished yet.  I have to decide whether these will become "Thinking of You" cards or Birthday cards.

Thank you for stopping by and a big thanks for your comments!  They are like a little treat at the end of my day when I check my blog.

Off to get inky and create some more Valentine's Day cards.

Another Round for the Mystery Image Swap!

I've been waiting for January 18th for a long time.  Why?  Because on January 18th the friends in the Mystery Image Swap on Split Coast can reveal their latest creation - and I actually had mine done and postal a few weeks ago (shocking, I know!)

Jeanette (aka Forest Ranger on SCS) was our swap hostess this round, and that means that a couple of months ago she chose our images, stamped them all.  We receive the Mystery Image with our swap returns from the previous round.  Jeanette gave us an image of a pizza box, some pizza slices and a sentiment from a company called TooMuchFun Rubber Stamps.  And it was fun!

Here's what I came up with:

It's doesn't show up well in the photo, but the yellow and brown pieces of CS have been embossed with a diamond embossing plate so there is some texture there.  Here's a closer view:

And a wee bit of perking up the inside:

The red patterned paper was left over from a kit from last summer, it was a backyard barbecue theme, but I thought that it also looked like a tablecloth one might find in a pizza parlor.  The image is colored with Spectrum Noir markers and the little heart gem is from my stash (probably from Michael's).

Thanks for a fun image and being such a fun hostess, Jeanette!  I can hardly wait to see what the next round will bring!

Dueling Darlings Book Blitz

The 15th of the month brings another round for the Dueling Darlings 

and this month's Dazzling Hostess is Terry! 

January is "Book Blitz Month" so the kits for the Divas and Dazzlers have a reading theme.  Terry's fun kit contained images from MFT's Who's That Girl line entitled "Well Read" - the image and the sentiment as well.

Her generous kit also included DPs from Basic Grey "Study Hall", DCWV solid brown and Fancy Pants "Frigid".  Terry also gave us baker's Twine, star buttons, nailheads metal stickers and brown ribbon.  Wooo, lots to work with here!

Right when I saw the image I wanted to create images floating above her as if she was reading a travel adventure or mystery novel.  Here's what I came up with:

The other stamps are from a gifted set that I have never used, "HannaStamps" and I think may be of Hanna Montana origin, not sure.  At any rate, when I received them I couldn't imagine how to use them.  Well, this kit provided the opportunity!

The picture on the right is a close up of the image, colored with Spectrum Noir markers. That's a safari hat hanging off her ankle, not part of the MFT image.  It's a little out of proportion, but I thought it was fun.  

Here's a peek at the inside:

Not in the kit, but from my stash are the eyelets and antique brad used to hang the sentiment.  It's actually hanging loose, like a sign and not glued down.  

We are also to post our favorite author or our favorite book.  Those are almost impossible choices since my reading taste spans quite a few genres.  I guess, if forced to pick just one it would be fantasy/adventure/mystery types of novels and certainly at the top of the list would be J. R. R. Tolkien.  I discovered The Hobbit and the Trilogy in the early 70's and it's still beloved.  Another masterpiece is Stephen King's "The Gunslinger" series.  He kept us waiting years between installments, so long that I had to read the previous book again to remember where things left off.  

Thank you Terry, for such a marvelous kit!  I had a lot of fun creating with it.  (Although when my husband saw the card, he didn't understand what I was going for with the travel, safari theme.)  Hopefully it comes across for all of my card making friends out there!

Now, off you go to visit the other marvelous creations by my fellow Dazzlers and the Divas on our opposing team!  Be sure to leave love along the way.  Thanks for stopping by!